I can't quite believe I've done this.
I've never really been a 'leisure' cyclist (whatever that is).
My cycling has almost exclusively been commuting, with the odd FNRttC, a couple of bits of family cycle-touring, a Hilly 50 here and there, bouncing round the Brighton bit of the South Downs Way at weekends and the odd longer adventure.
For the commuting, I know where I'm going, and for everything else half the fun was planning the route, getting the maps out beforehand and then using the map en route.
On the first of the family cycle tours (when the minis were 12 and 14) the map reading thing became a bit of a bind, 'cos I wanted to be 100% sure we didn't take a wrong turn for fear of the whines I would doubtless receive if we did. Therefore, before the second tour the following year I bought a secondhand SatMap and had great fun planning the routes and then enjoyed the trip itself without the fear of losing where we were.
I opted for the SatMap because it runs real maps which I can understand. Wasn't bothered about the fact it couldn't do routing, 'cos I did all that up front. Another factor were the consistent tales of woe from Garmin owners (typically) about software and routing glitches. It all sounded too flaky to me. On the odd occasion where I've been on a ride with a mate with a Garmin (Chris L, I'm looking at you), the thing has done the most extraordinary deviations.
Anyhow, roll on a few years and cometh the plague, and I find myself going for a Sunday morning ride with Mrs hatler every week, dipping out from SW London into the Surrey Hills. She's now an old hand at this, having discovered road bikes a few years ago, and manages two or three rides a week out with mates. She knows the back roads of Surrey better than I ever have, and I grew up there.
On Sunday just gone we decided to head for Windsor. We didn't have a route, just a general idea. It was bright (very) and my poor old SatMap seizes up after about an hour when I'm recording the route. It all became a bit frustrating. Having to stop, check the phone in the blinding sunlight, rinse and repeat. Agh !
Well, having spent virtually nothing for the last three months, on a sort of a whim I thought I would treat Mrs h to a late Christmas present, a Wahoo Elemnt Roam.
It turned up yesterday and we had it linked up with the RideWithGPS account in no time at all. A quick spin around the block this morning and it did exactly what I expected/hoped it would, and all very very intuitively. Ride was uploaded to RideWithGPS as I walked through the door.
We're planning a slightly more adventurous route for Sunday, though not too certain of destination yet, we wait until we're sure which way the wind is blowing before we make a final decision.
I'll provide updates here if there's anything of note to report.